17 January 2014

Africa: A brief introduction to the study of bureaucracies in Sub-Saharan Africa

By Mathew K Jallow

For
democratic systems and institutions of democracy to flourish, it is
necessary and imperative to have an efficient and effective public
bureaucracy. This research paper discusses at length the failures and
opportunities of African bureaucracies, and what governments there need
to do to achieve social and economic empowerment for their citizens.It
is clear from all available research that effective public policies
cannot be defined, articulated and implemented in the absence of
bureaucratic systems that are transparent, competent and accountable.
Efficient and competent public bureaucracies are a prerequisite for the
effective administration of the rule of law, unbiased dispensation of
justice, empowerment of the people, the equal treatment, and affording
equal opportunities to all citizens without regard to tribe or political
or religious affiliation. Since the attainment of political
independence over sixty years ago, countries in Sub-Saharan African have
experienced an overwhelming increase in the number of public
bureaucrats (First, 1972). Newly independent African governments moved
rapidly to replace the departing colonial administrators with
native-born bureaucrats.

For
the most part, newly installed administrators had only secondary level
education and the majority held junior and middle level administrative
positions under the colonial administrations. Most, therefore, lacked
the knowledge and the skills of the departing colonialists (Ayittey,
1998). The process of hiring these native-born bureaucrats to replace
the departing colonial administrators became widely and suitably
referred to as Africanization. The rapid growth of the bureaucracy
throughout Africa gave rise to an influential new class who, like their
colonial predecessors, also aspired to a higher social and economic
status. They, therefore, soon began to acquire corporate interests in
positions they held, and moved rapidly to consolidate their hold on
power in order to acquire and accumulate capital and wealth. In time,
this self-interest caused a wide chasm to develop between the governing
and the governed, which in the process, redefined the Weberan theory of
bureaucracy from one in which the public was the beneficiary of public
goods and services, to one that benefited only a small privileged class.
The result is that even today, in most Africa countries, the government
is perceived by the ruling elites as a vehicle to rob and terrorize the
citizenry (Ayittey, 1998).

African
bureaucrats have been described by Professor Ayittey as artificial and
comprising degreed and non-degreed bandits, who are out of touch with
the people, operate through deception and abuse of power, and are
perennially locked in combat with them. The new administrative system
that emerged out of post-independence African defined new governance
rules that observed no rule of law, no accountability, and presided over
chaotic governments. Professor Ayittey observed that the tragedy in
which government institutions became virtual properties of the ruling
class, precluded institutionalization of good governance and ensured
that government bureaucracies ran predatory states, which subverted the
agenda of social and economic development for the majority poor. A
consequence of this system of governance is the emergence of corruption,
embezzlement, capital flight, increased poverty, and tribalism, which
continue to suck the continent deep into the vortex of internal
conflicts, administrative failures and increasing violent political
implosions. The absence of accountability in government has exacerbated
the problems of good governance, while the lack of skilled,
knowledgeable and dedicated public administrators has ensured that open
and endemic corruption is bankrupting African countries and creating a
climate that continues to cause widespread social upheavals across the
continent.

In
an effort to put corruption in Africa in the proper perspective,
Transparency International, in its 2005 survey, lamented the poor
performance of African countries on the Corruption Progress Index (T I
Report, 2005). The survey implicated endemic corruption as the primary
cause of poverty in Africa and the major impediment to good governance,
the establishment of democratic institutions, and social stability. The
Global Forum on Fighting Corruption, another good governance watchdog,
declared that corruption threatened democracy, economic growth and the
rule of law (Global Forum on Fighting Corruption Report, 2005). The
major problem in Africa is that the governing elites lack the sense of
patriotism, focusing instead on their own self-interest, as they loot
the resources meant to bring change and economic development in their
countries. This brought about the widespread social and economic malaise
facing the African continent. This research study also attempts to
understand the reasons behind the continued failure of Africa to
establish fully functioning democratic institutions and systems of
governance with a view to promote good governance and social and
economic development.

It
should be noted that in the first decade of African independence,
democratic institutions were established, but the social disconnect that
emerged between the governing and governed led to the abandonment of
these democratic experiments. As a result, widespread discontent and
civil unrest began to manifest in various forms until finally successive
military coups swept the continent leading to the ousting of
democratically elected governments. The ascendancy of the military
regimes at first caused hopes to rise, but reality soon set it as the
new rulers began to purge the ranks of the government and competent and
experienced civil servants whose loyalties they questioned. The reality
of military rule began to gradually unfold as the military regimes,
threatened by their tenuous hold on power, began systematic arrest,
detention, torture and murder of opponents of the regimes; both real and
perceived. The democratic experiment, in its infancy under elected
civilian governments, were abandoned or dismantled to the chagrin of the
people. And human rights protocols, to which African countries are
signatories, were abrogated with impunity, leading to the further
erosion of civil society rights. And with these abuses, came the
repression of the press, corruption and lack of accountability, which
have become the hallmark of military rule.

This
study will also attempt to address issues which could facilitate a
better understanding and acceptance of democratic processes and systems
of governments in Africa and for its people.The findings
of the report may help reduce the prevailing culture of corruption and
enable the establishment of democracy across Africa. Already, several
authoritative studies have established that the failure to
institutionalize good governance in Africa is the direct consequence of
to the almost criminal lack of accountability, the rampant corruption,
and abuse of human rights, the politicization of the military and the
civil service, and the repression of the independent media. It is my
hope that the report will benefit African readers and other information
consumers by helping identify the causes of failure to establish good
governance, while offering solutions for ways to establish democracy in
Africa. Additionally, it is hoped that the report will help to educate
readers about the pervasiveness of bureaucratic corruption in Africa as
the primary cause of the poor governance across the continent.
Sub-Saharan African countries have descended into lawless anarchies over
the past five decades, at a time when the rest of the third world is
experiencing dramatic changes in the way governments operate and manage
their human and natural resources.

Finally,
over the past decades since political independence, Africa has taken a
path that has only brought misery and social alienation among its
population. Military rules, which began four decades ago, have
establishment dictatorships that prevent people from realizing their
full potentials, and their hopes and aspirations. Democracy is
imperative in the quest for justice, equity and social and economic
development, and hopefully researchers, students of Africa, the
African’s political leadership and citizens, will acquire information in
this study that could be useful in advancing good governance and
democracy in Africa. In order to understand how African governments have
administered more than half-century of poor governance, the study
examines the way in which African bureaucracies have functioned in the
past. The failure of Africa’s government to bring about social and
economic development is, therefore, directly related to the deviation
from Max Weber’s ideal-type bureaucracy, and its substitution in Africa
with a system of organization that promotes paternalism, self-serving
individualism and diverts public resources for private purposes